IOWA CITY, IOWA — As their paths crossed in the postgame handshake line, Iowa center Adam Woodbury apologized to Maryland point guard Melo Trimble for poking him in the eye during the first half of his team's 71-55 win over the Terps Sunday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
It was the second time the 7-foot-1 junior offered his apology, and Trimble seemed to have accepted it. While it didn't seem to have an affect on the game or Trimble's performance, it became a pretty popular topic in the postgame news conference of Hawkeyes coach Fran McCaffery.
When a local reporter asked McCaffery how Woodbury keeps poking opponents in the eye – it happened twice in a recent game against Wisconsin, leading Big Ten Network analyst Dan Dakich to call for the Iowa player's suspension – the Hawkeyes coach bristled.
"Next question," he said. "Ask an intelligent question."
When he was asked why that wasn't an intelligent question, McCaffery bristled some more.
"Because I said so," he said before abruptly ending the news conference.
It was an interesting way to close a news conference that started with McCaffery emotionally thanking the group of students for raising more than $2 million for cancer research, nearly a year after his son was diagnosed and was successfully treated.
For his part, Trimble handled the incident involving Woodbury with his typical poise.